Man gets prison in death of bound victim

POTTSVILLE - A Schuylkill County man has been sentenced to three to six years in state prison in the death of a man authorities said was left tied to a tree for nearly a day last year.

A county judge on Tuesday approved a plea agreement for Daniel Dull, 26, of Orwigsburg, the (Pottsville) Republican-Herald reported.

Authorities said that Dull and Keith Reber, 49, took 26-year-old Bryan Smith to a secluded area in South Manheim Township in May 2012 and bound him to a tree.

Reber suspected Smith of stealing from his girlfriend.

State police said Smith, who was also gagged, was left in the wooded area for about 20 hours in hot and humid weather, and Reber later returned and found him dead with his face in the dirt.

Reber was convicted last month of involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping and conspiracy, but acquitted of first-, second- and third-degree murder, aggravated assault, unlawful restraint and two counts of simple assault.

Dull's mother, Margaret Gradwell, called her son "a caring, loving person who is too trusting."